If you live in Florida, or have access to a television, then you know well enough that the Sunshine State hasn't seen a whole hell of a lot sunshine this last week or so.I blame Zeus, but hey - I don't know my Greek mythology all that well.
Anyway, with all the rain and crap weather we've had these last eight or nine days, our pool has gone to Hell in a hand basket.
All the excess water has messed with the Ph levels and shot up our algae to the point where we're having to drain out all the existing water in the pool - a lengthy process, to say the least - and pump in new water. What this means, friends, is that the Houghs have had no swimming pool for a week... and will likely not have one for an additional week.
Cowabunga.
Without the pool, and without the sun, Kris and I are slowly but surely loosing our bronze-god tans and growing more agitated with each passing day. You could attribute this to cabin fever - I don't think there's another term that's best suited for what we're going through these days.
And it's not just us, either - the girls are feeling the restlessness, too. While Abby has always been a huge fan of falling into stationary objects, lately she's gotten into the habit of climbing up on top of things, losing her balance, and plummeting down onto the floor. Usually, Kris and I are able to catch her in the act of such stupidness... but, occasionally (I can't stress this enough, Department of Children and Families and Social Services) we don't catch her in time.And this happens:
I thought for sure the thing was about to burst open, spilling brain matter all over our kitchen floor (it didn't), in which case I'd be hauled off to jail for child neglect or abuse or something like that, and end up some tough guy's girlfriend. She did have a huge bump for awhile, though. Check this video out:
If that wasn't bad enough, days later Alayna tried using the stove as an armrest:
I think these two injuries alone guarantee me and Kristina's disqualification from any Parent of the Year award any time soon.
If there was a silver lining to any of this cabin fever'd, rain-soaked, cloudy-skied, toddler-damaging week, it's that Yours Truly has been able to devote some quality to one of his top five favorite video games of all time:
BAM!!
Purchased off ebay last summer (for $16 - a steal!), this SNES classic defined my middle school years (I was a dork, what can I say).Surprisingly enough, it's held up pretty well - I just saw that it came out on the Wii Virtual Consol, so I'll have to buy that in order to play the epic on the big screen (or, rather, big-but-not-as-big-as-it-could-be-since-the-wife-doesn't-see-the-importance-of-upgrading-when-moving-into-a-bigger-house-with-a-bigger-living-room' screen). Anyway, playing it again has been radical, and I almost forget the daily drudgery of my non-stop, stress-laden, rain-soaked life.
Almost.
Anyway, here's a crapload of pics and videos for you - free of charge. Enjoy.
- Brian
The girls, in a rare non-screaming/self-inflicting wounds mood.
If this doesn't pull at your heart strings, you don't have a soul.
Abby, bored on the coach.
Abby, shitting her pants as Yo Gabba Gabba starts.
The Cannonball discovers the joy of wearing a sword and baldric.
... and dressed up for her 1st day of Bible Camp
Water Day at Bible Camp (we missed her actually going down the water slide)
Alayna, showing off her Bible Camp arts and crafts
Trails in the Tibet Butler Forest Reserve (where we're going to have our family portraits done in a few weeks)
Abby hitting the trails
More of the trails
...and more of the trails
...and more of the trails
...and more of the trails
Fan-shaped fern thingies
Our kids, somehow coexisting peacefully- Brian
